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ESPN.com's Jonathan Givony spent 10 days in Europe crisscrossing the continent evaluating many of the top international prospects eligible for the 2018 NBA draft, as well as some notable young players for future drafts.
Here are the highlights of what he learned on his trip, including evaluations of potential No. 1 pick Luka Doncic and more standout players.
Day 1 | Madrid, Spain
No scouting trip to Europe is complete without a pilgrimage to Madrid to watch Luka Doncic -- the No. 1 player in our top 100 rankings -- so why not knock it out right off the bat? We also had the opportunity to visit Real Madrid's gorgeous practice facility (located on a campus that houses the soccer team) to evaluate its junior team, composed of under-18 players.
Unfortunately, we were somewhat unlucky, as Doncic was ejected late in the second quarter -- the first time in his career he has been thrown out of a game. He received a technical foul for elbowing a German big on a fast break, drawing blood, and then was whistled for his second for complaining effusively about a questionable charging call. Doncic was flabbergasted by the referees' decision and had somewhat of a meltdown, leaving the court, only to return and express his objections quite vocally in a head-to-head confrontation with the official. He ultimately stormed off the floor angrily, kicking in the tunnel repeatedly for good measure.
As his worldwide profile has exploded, Doncic has become more brazen with his on-court antics this season, having a number of incidents in which he expressed poor body language and got into (mostly harmless) confrontations with referees or opposing players when things didn't go his way. On one hand, it's understandable and almost inevitable that an 18-year-old superstar who is such a celebrity on and off the court would let all the attention and hype he's receiving go to his head a little. There's a fine line in professional sports between swagger and arrogance, and many of the top players in the NBA cross it on a nightly basis. They aren't immune to being thrown out of a game either. We'll have to see how things evolve from here, as it's something NBA scouts will be monitoring. This probably would be more of an issue if Doncic's behavior didn't match his production, which continues to be absolutely remarkable in any context.
In his short time on the floor, Doncic showed exactly why he's considered as strong of a prospect to be picked No. 1 overall as any player in this draft. He completely controlled the tempo of the game, whether he was playing as a point guard or a point forward through whom the entire offense ran. Valencia elected to trap him on every pick-and-roll in an effort to get the ball out of his hands and force others to make plays. Doncic didn't look frazzled in the least bit, keeping his dribble alive and making the right read and pass every time, whether by pushing the ball into the post for fouls, swinging it over the top to the weakside for open looks or pulling up off the bounce for a memorable iso 3-pointer with the clock running down. He's just too big, strong and smart for most teams in Europe to find a matchup for and had no problem going into the post with smaller players on him.
While it was somewhat disappointing to see him get ejected, Doncic showed his talent vividly in his time on the floor and remains one of the most well-scouted and proven prospects anywhere. With an army of injured players on the sidelines, NBA scouts are hoping Real Madrid can finally get healthy and make a run at the Euroleague Final Four in Belgrade in May, where Doncic would have a chance to avenge his poor performance at last year's event.
Days 2 and 3 | Prague, Czech Republic (via Amsterdam)
We were intrigued when Julian Betko's GBA Invitational announced it would be hosting the NBA Academy Africa for a four-game tournament against a host of European teams. We wrote an in-depth piece on the Academy's performance in Prague, as well as its place in the youth basketball ecosystem both now and down the road, which we encourage you to read.
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Jonathan Givony
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@DraftExpress
Last day of the GBA Invitational tipping in Prague. NBA Academy Africa taking on @gbacademyeu.
2:49 AM - Dec 21, 2017
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There were a couple of other prospects worth mentioning from this very well-organized tournament playing for the seven other teams in attendance, listed in the order they finished: Red Star Belgrade (Serbia), Stella Azzurra (Italy), USK Future Stars (Czech Republic), Get Better Academy EU (Czech Republic), Apollo Amsterdam (Netherlands), IBA Munich (Germany) and Get Better Academy Euroleague (Czech Republic).
Paul Eboua | 6-8 | PF | Stella Azzurra | 17.8 years old
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A player we've scouted extensively over the years, Eboua has filled out over the past year or so to a striking degree. He has an ideal, perfectly-proportioned and ripped 213-pound frame for a power forward, with a 7-3 wingspan that more than makes up for any height he might lack for the position. Eboua's value as a NBA prospect starts on the defensive end, where his length, strength and ability to cover ground seamlessly, get in the passing lanes and protect the rim allowed him to defend anywhere from 1-5 at this tournament. He's an excellent rebounder on top of that, due to his sheer toughness, physicality and explosiveness off of two feet, and he does most of his damage at the moment within 15 feet of the basket, where his powerful frame can punish weaker players.
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Eboua has a strong first step, and will throw in just enough jumpers (career 32 percent from 3 in 29 games in the DraftExpress database) to leave you hopeful about his ability to develop offensively long-term. His mechanics are not great, as he sports a long, slow release, and his decision-making can be very questionable at times, as he does not have the best feel for the game, so there's plenty of room to grow here, which will ultimately decide just how good of a prospect he is. Players with Eboua's length, toughness and defensive versatility are all the rage in today's positionless NBA, and he's an interesting prospect to monitor to see how the rest of his game fills out. Eboua graduates high school in 2019 and he will ultimately be deciding between pro options in Europe and the NCAA.
Tristan Enaruna | 6-8 | SF/PF | Apollo Amsterdam | 16.4 years old
Enaruna didn't play the final day, as he had an appointment at the U.S. embassy to obtain a visa before his upcoming move to Wasatch Academy in Utah. We've seen Enaruna many times and he continues to make real progress with his physical profile and skill set, which is why he already has quite a few scholarship offers from some of the top colleges in America. Enaruna has an ideal frame for a modern day wing/combo forward, with long arms, big shoulders, good athleticism and ample size and length to slide up to the 4-spot in small-ball lineups once his body fills out. His jumper has improved noticeably in his time at Apollo Amsterdam, and he should emerge as a very good shooter in time if he continues to make progress with it due to his mechanics and touch.
Enaruna's ballhandling skills are still a major work in progress, and he doesn't always make the kind of impact on both ends of the floor you hope to see relative to his talent level, even if he shows you flashes of playmaking ability. He lacks a degree of assertiveness and toughness, and he needs to ramp up his motor as he has too many moments in which he looks content to blend in. This isn't really unique to 16-year-olds, so it will be interesting to see how the transition to the U.S. treats him over the next year and a half before he enrolls in college in 2019.
Nemanja Popovic | 6-9 | PF | Red Star Belgrade | 15.9 years old
Just days before his 16th birthday, Popovic had a strong outing in Prague, helping his team win the tournament championship while competing against players two or three years older. Popovic has a nice frame for his age, with long arms, soft hands and a motor that will serve him very well as his career progresses. He brings great energy and activity in everything he does, getting in the passing lanes, crashing the offensive glass, protecting the rim and flying around the floor on both ends. Offensively, Popovic shows flashes of skill and feel, with strong footwork and a projectable handle and shooting stroke that could be harnessed into consistent weapons down the road.
While mobile, he's not overly explosive and will need to continue to round out his game as the competition stiffens -- especially his jumper, which looks good in warm-ups but hasn't translated to game settings consistently yet.
Day 4 | Skopje, Macedonia (via Austria)
The Adriatic League is always a great place to scout younger prospects attempting to find their footing in professional basketball, and this season is no exception with 18 NBA-draft eligible players (age 21 or younger) getting rotation minutes among the league's 12 teams.
Serbian 19-year-old Aleksa Radanov is one of them, and he played a huge role in his FMP Zeleznik team stealing an important win on the road at KK MZT Skopje. Radanov is intriguing due to his impressive combination of size, skill and versatility. A point guard growing up, Radanov has excellent ball skills despite playing quite a bit of time at the 3 and 4 for FMP. Listed at 6-7½ barefoot, he does a great job of pushing the ball up the floor in transition, and has an advanced understanding of operating in the pick-and-roll that you typically don't see from someone his age.
Radanov is shooting 42 percent from 3 on the season and appears to have improved this part of his game noticeably as of late, making a pair of 3s in the game we saw. Still, he has a long way to go in this area, as evidenced by his career 33 percent 3-point percentage in 114 games in the DraftExpress database. While he's capable of throwing in jump shots both with his feet set and off the dribble, his release is too slow at the moment, and he doesn't always look ready to shoot when left open on the perimeter, rarely catching and shooting on the hop. Radanov's terrific feel for the game, impressive intensity level defensively and all-around versatility as a multipositional guard makes him a NBA prospect worth tracking closely, whether this year or in 2019, and the intangibles he displays leaves a lot of room for optimism regarding his development.
Day 5 | Legnano, Italy (via Turkey)
After attending the U18 European championship in Slovakia this summer, we noted the breakout performance of then 17-year-old Marko Simonovic. The Montenegrin 7-footer has since started his first steps in professional basketball in the historic Italian second division (Lega Due). The close proximity of his Siena team's road outing in Legnano, just minutes away from bustling Milan Malpensa airport, made for an easy scouting venture despite traveling in from Macedonia, and we weren't disappointed by what we saw, as Simonovic played 24 minutes, putting up seven points and seven rebounds while demonstrating intriguing sparks of potential on both ends of the floor.
The first thing that stands out about Simonovic are his physical tools. He's listed at 7-feet barefoot by Siena, and that doesn't appear to be an exaggeration. His frame is skinny but promising, with big shoulders that should fill out nicely in time. On top of that, he's extremely light on his feet, agile and bouncy, while demonstrating a solid skill level and feel for the game that could be harnessed into intriguing weapons of offensive versatility in time.
Having just turned 17 only two months ago -- and already being an extremely late bloomer who was an almost complete unknown until very recently -- Simonovic is understandably still at a very early stage of his development. He looked fairly passive offensively when presented with opportunities to take advantage of one-on-one situations in the post or facing the basket, and he hasn't found a way to translate his very promising jump shot in warm-ups to game situations, mostly due to choice.
While the recipient of plenty of playing time, Simonovic isn't in an ideal situation, being surrounded by two American forward imports (Devin Ebanks and Elston Turner) who overlap on his position to an extent, love to pound the ball, aren't willing passers and have bad habits on and off the floor that have prevented them from playing at higher levels of European basketball than their sheer talent would indicate. A lot of Simonovic's passivity can be chalked up to youth and inexperience, so it will be interesting to see how he evolves in this regard as his career moves on.
His main issue is on the defensive end, where he doesn't have a position at the moment, certainly not in the league in which he plays. He's too tall to guard power forwards, too light to defend more physical centers and doesn't have elite length, toughness or aggressiveness to make up for that. He's one of the more mobile 7-footers you'll find regularly stepping out well beyond the 3-point line for long hedges and recovering impressively back into the paint with exceptionally quick feet. He lacks a degree of physicality, though, especially on the defensive glass, and doesn't show elite timing as a rim-protector. In today's NBA, Simonovic will likely need to become a legit floor-spacer to carve out any kind of role, but there is room for him to continue to improve in different parts of his game to become an all-around contributor.
Being such a late bloomer, it shouldn't surprise anyone if Simonovic sat out the 2018 NBA draft and waited to establish himself more vividly at the pro level in hopes of potentially cracking the first round in 2019. This is a unique draft for international players, though, as there is no clear-cut third-best prospect who has emerged from the pack yet behind Doncic and Dzanan Musa. Long-term, there might be as good of a case for Simonovic as anyone after Doncic and Musa, which could cause some NBA teams to try and nudge him into 2018 in hopes of getting a steal.
Most U.S.-based NBA scouts have been focusing their international scouting efforts everywhere except second division Italy thus far in the season, and few non-European scouts have actually gotten eyes on him so far, so it will be interesting to see how things evolve once the word gets out a bit more. Holding a Nike endorsement contract, Simonovic is an interesting sleeper candidate to be invited to the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland in April, something that would go a long way in helping him establish himself as a serious draft prospect for 2018 or beyond.
Day 6 and 7 | Belgrade (via Germany)
Belgrade is as good a place as any to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, especially since the Greek-Orthodox Serbians don't actually celebrate the holiday until Jan. 6. Two days in this basketball-crazed country, which is already in extreme anticipation mode for the upcoming Euroleague Final Four in May, gave us a chance to take in practice at Mega Bemax's sparkling new Mega Factory and watch an Adriatic League game between Mega and Red Star.
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Jonathan Givony
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@DraftExpress
Christmas Day in Serbia for the @ABA_League matchup between @KKMegaBemax and Red Star. Packed gym at Sremska Mitrovica.
1:40 PM - Dec 25, 2017
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The Adriatic League's defending champions, and lone Euroleague squad, Red Star is unquestionably the best competition Mega's youngsters will face all season, providing for an ideal level of competition to evaluate them against. The fact that Red Star has a number of former NBA draft picks, players, or former prospects on their roster -- such as Mathias Lessort (2016 76ers second-round pick), Pero Antic (ex-Atlanta Hawk), Taylor Rochestie (one of the top PGs in the Euroleague), Nemanja Dangubic (2014 Spurs second-round pick) and others gave us a good measuring stick to evaluate Mega's prospects against.
Unfortunately, neither of the team's NBA hopefuls, Goga Bitadze or Kostja Mushidi, had very strong outings. Georgian 18-year-old 7-footer Bitadze, who came into this game leading the league in blocks, averaging 11 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game in 24 minutes, picked up four fouls in the first half and appeared extremely frustrated throughout. He looked heavy-footed trying to step out and defend Red Star's American guards in the pick-and-roll, and was minus-19 in a game that ended up coming down to the final minute. Bitadze had demonstrated some potential as a 3-point shooter going into this season, converting 49 of 130 attempts (38 percent) in 82 games in the DraftExpress database, but he has been ice cold since the season started, going 0 of 16 from beyond the arc thus far. It's tough to see Bitadze being able to carve out a NBA niche without a jump shot, as he does not project as a high-level defender.
The 19-year-old German wing Mushidi, while appearing slimmed down and more focused, struggled to make shots, going just 1 of 6 on 3-pointers. He had four turnovers as well. Mushidi's shooting is a swing-skill for him as a draft prospect, as his 7-1 wingspan is enticing and gives him the versatility to defend anywhere from 2-4 at the NBA level potentially. Unfortunately, he's shooting only 31 percent for 3 in 31 career Adriatic League games since arriving in Serbia, and he does not have the type of athleticism or shot-creation skill to compensate for that.
While this is not a strong draft for international players, both prospects appear to be trending toward the second round at best right now, and they might be better suited continuing to gain seasoning in Europe before attempting to make the jump to the NBA.
On the positive side for Mega, 6-8 draft-eligible Bosnian combo forward Aleksandar Lazic had an outstanding outing, with 17 points, 15 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. He made some exceptionally athletic plays on both ends of the floor, hit 4 of 8 3-pointers and kept his team in the game with his tremendous energy level. This game was an anomaly for Lazic in what has been a fairly inefficient season offensively, but was impressive nonetheless considering the level of competition he did it against. Considering his size, motor and physical tools, Lazic is a player NBA scouts should monitor moving forward.
Denver Nuggets' 2017 draft pick Vlatko Cancar also had a strong outing against Red Star and seems to be making real progress physically and skill-wise. He appeared as aggressive as we've seen while looking to make things happen off the dribble, and he also had some really strong moments defensively switching onto perimeter players and making things difficult with his long 6-11 wingspan. Still only 20 years old, Cancar looks like a nice pickup for the Nuggets with the No. 49 pick last summer. Becoming a more consistent shooter (36 percent from 3 this season, 33.5 percent career 3-point shooting in 161 games) is the next step in solidifying his standing as a legitimate NBA player.
Day 9 - Zagreb (via Belgium)
The last game of our trip was a EuroCup group stage matchup between Cedevita and Paris-Levallois, a mostly meaningless affair that affected seeding alone for the next round of the competition. Still, this was a good opportunity to get another in-person look at 18-year-old Dzanan Musa, a 6-9 Bosnian scoring machine of a small forward who has been putting up impressive scoring numbers all season for the Croatian team.
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Jonathan Givony
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@DraftExpress
Last stop of my ten day trip to Europe: Drazen Petrovic Arena in Zagreb, Croatia, where @KKCedevita will be taking on Paris Levallois
12:00 PM - Dec 27, 2017
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Musa, who we've scouted countless times now since he was a much-hyped 16-year-old, continues to make strides both physically and skill-wise every time we see him, a testament to his insatiable work ethic. He's averaging an impressive 15 points in 26 minutes per game in the Adriatic League, shooting 66 percent from 2-point range and 39 percent from 3. Through 13 games, he's the highest scoring 18-year-old in Adriatic League history, which is notable considering the sheer quantity of NBA draft picks who have emerged from this region. His 26.2 PER is in fact higher than that of Nikola Jokic both in the seasons before and after he was drafted by the Denver Nuggets, as well as Dario Saric's.
Musa wasn't really tested in this game, easily coasting to 17 points in 24 minutes in a win over the French team. He showed his scoring prowess in one-on-one situations, in the pick-and-roll, attacking closeouts, in the open floor and with his silky smooth jump shot. His body control, footwork, touch and overall scoring instincts are absolutely elite, as he demonstrated with a series of gorgeous runners and floaters over the top of the hapless Paris defense. His hunger for putting the ball in the basket will fit in very well in today's offense-oriented NBA, and the fact that he's 6-9 gives him the potential to play a variety of different positions and roles, especially since he's also a good passer as well. The one downside is his defense, which is still a major work in progress, due to his average length, lackluster stance and just-decent lateral quickness.
In a draft (and league) that is starved for small forwards with size, skill and feel, Musa is an easy player to project as a top-20 pick and potentially a lottery selection depending on the results of his medical examinations, background checks, pre-draft workouts and more. He's one of the most well-scouted prospects on either side of the Atlantic Ocean, having almost 200 games of data in the DraftExpress database already. The fact that he's reportedly obsessed with making the NBA, has no buyout issues, is in a terrific development situation in Cedevita and is continually improving from year to year makes him one of the safer bets in this year's draft, international or not.
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